Will I lose my home, house or property in an IVA?
What creditors can request in an IVA
We receive a lot of calls and emails from the public asking; "Will I lose my home, house, property in an IVA?".
Under the terms of an IVA you will not be forced to sell your home, house or property. In some IVAs the creditors may request you release some of any equity from the property and then pay it into the IVA, for payment to the creditors. The creditors can request up to 75% of the equity payable either during or at the end of the IVA.
In some IVA cases people may be unable to release 75% of the equity. If this situation occurs then the creditors sometimes accept a lower amount. To make up for the lower amount the credits may ask you to offer 12 months further payments. This would mean you will not lose your home, house or property; instead your IVA would be 6 years instead of 5.
Stages in dealing with the equity in the home, house or property in an IVA
- If it is reasonable up to 75% of the equity in the home, house or property will need to be released
- Most people do a remortgage to release equity in the home, house or property for the IVA.
- Most people remortgage or release equity in the final year of the IVA. However ever case is different
- The fist stage to releasing equity is obtain the following documents; valuation on the property from 2-3 local estate agents, get some clipping from the local papers showing the prices of similar properties for sale and obtain a mortgage redemption certificate from your lenders. The IVA Insolvency Practitioner will want to see all this information so he can work out your equity.
- The IVA Creditors usually request as much equity as possible but end up receiving as much as your remortgage allows you.
- Due to the recent “Credit Crunch “where banks are not lending such high mortgages this will mean your equity will be far lower.
- If a remortgage is not possible then the IVA creditors will ask you to extend the IVA to 6 years.
Will I lose my home, house or property in bankruptcy?
- The Official Receiver or the trustee (if an insolvency practitioner has been appointed in place of the Official Receiver) may have to sell your home to go towards paying your bankruptcy debts. This applies whether the home is freehold or leasehold and whether it is solely or jointly owned.
- If your husband, wife or children are living with you, it may be possible for the sale to be put off until the end of the first year of your bankruptcy. This gives them time to make other housing arrangements. They should contact the Official Receiver or trustee dealing with your bankruptcy.
- Your husband, wife, partner, a relative or friend may be able to buy your beneficial interest in the home. This will stop the Official Receiver or trustee selling your home later.
Please note that clients who do an IVA are unlikely to have to sell it as part of the IVA. The IVA will provide you with the opportunity to give some of the equity to the creditors by remortaging the home, house or property.
If you wish to discuss whether you will lose your home, house or property in an IVA please complete the following form or telephone freephone 0800 074 6918.
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